BREXIT/ Italy to the collapse: it's all in the Asian '97-98 crisis?

Presently, two measures are necessary to stop the wave of panic that could engulf the markets like a tsunami over the next few weeks: 1) The EU needs to establish a moratorium for the British to freeze the Brexit for about two years in order to give all time to ponder how to come out of this tunnel. 2) The German and the French must bilaterally decide to proceed in a political union, so other countries may follow suit or not. The political union is necessary to block other sprouting individual attempts to break up the Union and to give Europe all the instruments to govern the economy: only the Euro isn’t enough.

The second measure is difficult, yes, but it is indispensible to place all countries before their own responsibilities: in or out of the Union. If they decide for “out”, there must be a plan to break up the Euro and return to every country’s respective currency. The political union will have enormous yet predictable social costs; breaking the Euro will have greater and unpredictable ones.

With this said, the British, German, and French, other than thinking of their own pains, must also consider the largest loose cannon of the Union – Italy. Differently from other “delinquent” countries such as Spain or Greece, Italy’s problems are increasingly severe. Its public debt, and now its banking debts are so large that no-one in the world can solve in in its own.

Furthermore, after the defeat of Premier Matteo Renzi at the administrative elections of the past week, the country appears rudderless. Renzi, after promising a ‘flamethrower’ against the apparatus of his party (guilty of the defeat), had been catatonic for days. This reaction, more so than the defeat, proves that the premier is overworked and that the government, beyond whatever majority numbers in Parliament, is already in crisis. Brexit has multiplied the impact of the current Italian crisis.

With uncertainty surrounding the intentions and actions of the UK, Germany, and France, Italy must brace for every scenario, and this requires a nationally united government. If Renzi has the courage and ability to lead the country forward; good; but he needs to do so expediently. Otherwise, the task falls back on the shoulders of the man who, for the last decade, has never backed down: ex president Giorgio Napolitano. For the PD, government party, the point is not to unite with the right crushed in the elections but to bring the rising M5S to the government.

Lao Xi on these pages has never spared criticism to the movement, but this is a fundamentally historical moment for Italy and the continent; everyone needs to contribute and no one can afford to spurn anyone else. The constitutional referendum, scheduled for next October, must be frozen and postponed, and extraordinary measures must be agreed upon with Germany and France to secure the Italian debt and swiftly admit Italy into the new European political union.